Virginia - Part 2 - 4th of July

Wednesday was the 4th of July. We all got up and dressed in our Old Navy Flag t-shirts. We had all purchased red, white and blue shirts for a family photo and we were excited to all be matchy-matchy. 

The Truman family was our activities committee and they did a fantastic job. That morning we played a game called "dot your partner" (or something like that - apparently I am not good at remembering names of games). You had to buddy up with someone and we had dots (from holes from punching paper) in a bowl with water and you had to stick them on your partner. The buddies with the most on their partner in 1 minute won. 

Here are some of our dotted buddies:

(The dads were such good sports!)

Dotted Kayla:

We then headed out for our family picture. Virginia is just beautiful and green. This was a trail near Jared's home. Look at how luscious and green it was.

Trial runs with the kids ~ Having fun!

Here is the whole group, all 21 of us.

 Front row: David, Katie, Michael, Evan

2nd row: Kayla and Gavin

3rd row (standing): Hannah, Emily, Ryan, Hailey, Dianne, Jared

The rest of us: Jessica, Chad, Jenny (holding Braden - he is behind Ryan), Spencer, Megan, Me, Kurt, Trevor.

The girls:

 Megan, Hannah, Jessica, Kayla, Katie, Hailey and Emily.

The boys:

 Gavin, Michael, Ryan, David, Spencer, Evan, Trevor and Braden (on the side being held by Jenny).

Our Little Family:

 (Anyone know how to adjust the color so we aren't so washed out? This would be such a great picture if the color was better).

When we got back the girls got to bakin'

While some were baking, other were involved in a serious Nerf war!

 Jared and Dianne's dining room, entry way and office were turned into the battle zone. You had to call a cease fire to walk through there or you would be shot!

The boys took this very seriously! And seriously, there were bullets all over the house. Everyone had a great time!

Still baking

One of the activities that the activity committee planned was cupcake decorating. The kids loved it!

 Emily

 Megan

 Hannah

 Hailey

Beautiful cupcakes:

The boys did some too but I guess I just grabbed girl shots. Oops!

We then went outside and the kids had a water balloon tossing contest. Although, as it usually goes, it turned into a water balloon war. Much fun was had!

And here is where the adults sat. In case you were not aware - Virginia was having a heat wave! It was 103 plus humidity. It was HOT! You walked outside and instantly started sweating. So unless you were running around in the water, you planted yourself in the shade and chilled.

We then did some fireworks at their house. On our outing that morning to the trail, we may or may not have misplaced some kids for a short while =) and therefore didn't feel like taking all 15 kids to a crowded fireworks show was the best idea - plus remember it was killer hot. So we stayed home and enjoyed the company.

My Baby is ONE!

I can't believe he is one already. Where did the last year go? 

Trevor is an amazing little boy. He is easy going like Evan and LOVES to be outside! Whenever a door opens, he is up and running for it trying to get outside before it closes. And as most toddlers, he has discovered a love for the toilet. Anytime a bathroom door is open, he is up and running for that too. As you can tell, we do a lot of running after him!

He is a great eater and eats everything I put in front of him - including green beans, broccoli, asparagus. He just loves everything. I haven't found a food yet that he won't eat. Of course, his mom is rather picky so I don't put too crazy of stuff in front of him =)

His latest line of defense is to bite. Urgh! It started on our last camping trip and has become a common occurrence. Usually it is when someone is taking something from him or you are taking hold of him to move him. But yesterday he walked up to Kayla and just bit her for no reason. He is getting some (at least 3 that I can feel) bigger teeth in the back so maybe that is why biting has become more common. Anyways, can't wait for this phase to pass!

He has become a little talker. Only we have no idea what he is saying. He will just jabber and jabber. It is so cute. Evan just got a pogo stick and loves to bounce on it right outside the slider door. He will stop and open the door and Trevor will just go on and on jabbering to him. It is so funny. He is very animated about it too. I think he is giving him advice or something. It's hilarious.

We are so thankful for this amazing, sweet little boy in our family.

Here is a look back at my baby:

Hours old in the hospital

I just love this photo of Trevor and Daddy. He just looks so little and cute!

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old

7 months old

8 months old

9 months old

10 months old

11 months old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ONE YEAR OLD!

He wants to do everything Evan does.

He always uses his blankie as a pillow.

Those little feet are always moving!

He can't wait to be big enough to hang out with Evan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVOR!

Our Virginia Trip - Part 1

We just got home from a FANTASTIC trip to Virginia. And by just got home I mean we literally walked in the door a little over an hour ago. We had such a great time (which means we have lots of photos to share) and I wanted to get this trip blogged because we have another trip coming up and I don't want to get behind. So, this trip will be posted in a few posts because 1) there are lots of photos and 2) I have been up since 2 am pacific time (5 am east coast time) and, I will be honest, I am TIRED! 

We went to visit Kurt's brother Jared (and his family) and his sister Jenny (and her family). Jenny's family drove up from North Carolina to spend a week with us. Jared has 3 kids, we have 4 and Jenny has 8. To do the math for you, that was 6 adults and 15 kids staying in one house. Jared - I hope your house is still standing =)

I just have to say that Jared has the best water heater EVER! 21 people showering, dishwasher constantly going and washing machine constantly going and no one ever ended up with a cold shower. That company should do a commercial about that!

So here are our activities for Monday the 2nd and Tuesday the 3rd:

Monday we flew from Sac to Seattle and then Seattle to D.C.

Here is T-man on the way to the airport. Such a cutie!

On the airplane:

Ready for take off!

(Notice the happy, excited faces. Those were NOT the faces we had today on the way home).

I love flying from Sac to Seattle. You pass the most beautiful mountains. There are like 5 or 6 of these beauties. It is so cool to see them dot the landscape all the way up to WA.

So Trevor is an amazing sleeper. I just put him in his crib and he goes to sleep. It works great . . . until we are somewhere else - like church or, apparently, an airplane. He was so tired but would not go to sleep. He was hitting, screaming, crying, kicking, bitting me and that was all in the first 20 minutes of the 1st flight. I was not sure this trip was a good idea. And then finally, FINALLY, he fell asleep - after me bouncing him for what felt like forever. I very carefully went back to my seat, put the arm rester things up and fell into Kurt's lap. Neither of us moved until he woke up. Then he was a much happier baby. (Notice Kurt's arm pinned between Trevor and the chair. I am sure it had to of fallen asleep but he never complained. What a great guy!)

So our flight from Seattle to DC was delayed an hour so we didn't arrive until 11 pm and then we had the 2 hour drive to the Richmond area of VA. (They technically live in Midlothian but I thought you would recognize Richmond better.) We didn't get to their house til 2 am. Switching time zones is such a pain, especially with a baby, but we did good overall. Getting up in the mornings was a bit hard for us to adjust to. Our Truman cousins (Jenny's family) get up early - like 5 or 6 every morning; which is 2 or 3 to us. I felt like a tired zombie most mornings. Probably looked like one too! =)

Tuesday was Megan's 15th birthday! Happy birthday Megan!!!! She opened family presents that morning and then a surprise present showed up at lunch time - a new phone! I think she was happy, don't you?

 (Megan and Jared)

That afternoon the Truman cousins arrived and we celebrated Megan's birthday some more. She had the yummiest dessert! It was an Oreo cookie, mint ice cream cake with homemade fudge. It was to die for! I begged Dianne for the recipe and she graciously shared. I can't wait to make it again.

 (Jared, Ryan (tie-dye shirt), Megan, Chad (in the background), Katie (next to Megan), Hailey (next to Katie) and Jessica (behind Hailey)

Oh boy, ready? Left to right (going around the table): Jenny, Bradon, Emily, David, Michael, Evan, Kayla, Gavin, Jared, Megan, Katie, Hailey, Hannah and Jessica in the right corner.

The girls hanging out in Megan's room:

Left to right: Kayla (pink top), Hailey (white top), Megan (blue top), Katie (pink top), Hannah (teal shirt), Emily (behind Hannah) and Jessica (pink top).

That night we played a game but I can't remember the name of it. It was something like Camera Hot Potato. You all sat in a circle and passed a camera around while singing a song and if the song ended on you, you had to take a picture of you and your neighbor by holding the camera out with your arm. It was fun!

 (Spencer and David)

(Kurt and Evan)

Well that was the first 2 days. Now it is 6 pm and Trevor is trying to convince me that it is 9 pm and he is ready for bed. Since he got used to waking up at 6 am back there and I don't want him up at 3 am out here, I am not letting him go to bed quite yet. He is not thrilled with this plan. Hopefully we will all get a great night's sleep tonight.